Activists say these climate bills will help Hochul meet NY’s 2030 mandate
Monique Fitzgerald has witnessed climate injustice occurring in her North Bellport neighborhood.
The fenceline community borders the Brookhaven Landfill and other industrial pollutants that contribute to North Bellport having the lowest health outcomes in Suffolk County. She combats environmental justice and high energy costs as a climate justice organizer with the Long Island Progressive Coalition.
“Living in a place that is identified as disadvantaged, living next to a landfill, I understand how the methane gas contributes to the climate crisis that we’re in,” Fitzgerald said.
North Bellport and more than 1,700 other neighborhoods in the rest of New York were identified earlier this year as disadvantaged communities earmarked for billions of dollars in climate funding, according to a state working group.
Now, several Long Island coalitions and organizations are calling for that money to be rolled out. They gathered on Wednesday, Nov. 15 in Hempstead — another disadvantaged community — to launch their campaign for the Climate, Jobs & Justice Package. The bill package features three pieces of climate legislation and a spending budget proposal that they hope will act as a legislative roadmap for Gov. Kathy Hochul to follow when she proposes her executive budget in the new year.
While they hoped to catch her attention using her beloved Buffalo Bills football — calling it #TeamClimateJustice vs. #TeamFossilFuels — their seriousness of the issues was anything but cheeky.
New York’s landmark 2019 Climate and Community Protection Act set an ambitious goal to reduce 40% of emissions by 2030. However, despite large renewable energy and offshore wind projects on the horizon, the state might not be on track to meet that mandate without smaller community-led projects in the pipeline for funding.